Packaging for general consumer goods is varied and diverse, and a wide variety of packages for tobacco products are known in the art. Tobacco products can be offered in conjunction with supplemental products intended for use with the tobacco products. For example, packages are known which incorporate cigarettes with matches or lighters, see FR 2,565,210 A1. Such a package can make carrying and use of the tobacco products simpler and less cumbersome. There are also packages which provide loose tobacco and rolling papers in a single container, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,488. Such packages can provide a single, convenient parcel with the necessary components for a consumer to make their own cigarettes.
In addition to combining two different products that are intended to be used together, packaging solutions exist where one component supports or facilitates storage of unused products, whereas another accommodates used or consumed product. For example, in the tobacco field packages are known which both store new cigarettes and function as ashtrays, see WO 2000/045654 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,196 A. Smokeless tobacco users have dual-purpose packaging in the form of packages which hold a supply of fresh, unused material as well as a disposal area for used product, often in the lid portion. See, Registered Community Design No. 000359823-0001 or SE 527,350 C2. Such a configuration is particularly useful for wrapped smokeless tobacco products as the wrapping material may be slow to degrade, meaning throwing them to the ground can be as disfavoured as discarding cigarette butts in the same manner.
Furthermore, there are packages in the tobacco field which accommodate users' varying tastes. One example is packaging which incorporates two separate compartments, each holding a plurality of cigarettes having a first or second flavourant, respectively. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,883.
For users whose tastes may vary, general multi-functional packages are provided. U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,298 A describes a fabric pouch subdivided into a plurality of compartments for storing, e.g., a pipe, loose tobacco, and matches; or toiletries, cigarettes, and a lighter.
Finally, some packages are available which specifically attempt to respond to tobacco product users who want to reduce their consumption of tobacco products or who want a non-tobacco product provided with their tobacco product. In such packages, a plurality of cigarettes and a plurality of non-tobacco products, optionally nicotine-containing, may be provided. See, for example, GB 2,412,835A.
Despite these advances in packaging solutions there remains a need to provide packaging options for consumers which offer a mix of products while maintaining product quality.